Musical resurrections: artistes who got a new lease of life

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Easter is here. A holiday that more often than not catches us off guard. It is a reminder, if we ever needed one, that time flies. A reminder that many of those New Year’s resolutions were mostly laughable. And it is also a reminder that Christmas will sneak up on us too.

Easter is a long holiday where we celebrate the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, an aspect that is the cornerstone of our Christian faith. Now that we are pondering the concept of being dead, buried and resurrected, we cannot help, but examine it from a slightly different perspective, musically speaking.

Which musicians seemed dead to us — dead and buried — and somewhat miraculously, or surprisingly, resurrected their careers?

As you can probably imagine, it is not the easiest trick in the book. A musical career is hard. You struggle with burnout and the competitive and often outright nasty edge of the industry and sometimes, the passion simply burns out.

In Uganda, you also have to make it a worthwhile career because, heck, this is what you are going to be doing to put a roof over your head and pay your bills, and that very thought can be exhausting. (This may be why Bobi Wine and his ilk seem a little more relaxed as politicians.)

Surprise comeback

Few people surprised us with their comeback more than a gentleman named David Amon Ssemanda. You may know him as Maddox Sematimba.

With his 2000 album Tukolagane, he captured the soul of urban Uganda. By this, I am referring not just to the nation’s capital or our other cities and towns; I am talking about trading centres.

His music was everywhere, like a pop culture phenomenon. It was like a successful anti-HIV campaign — the ones where the Government admirably decided to face the disease head-on and went all out against it.

Maddox Sematimba

For about six straight years, it was impossible to find a playlist anywhere that did not have a Maddox song on it. Then he went dark. It is not clear what happened — there were rumours of family trouble back in Sweden (where he had been based and did a lot of his music).

There were for about six straight years, it was impossible to find a playlist anywhere that did not have a Maddox song on it. also allegations of substance abuse and there was the incarceration on Luzira Prisons over non-payment of bills.

The media was reluctant to report on these rumours and allegations — Maddox had become something of a cultural icon and whatever was happening, they kept their distance.

Then there was that comeback concert in 2012, and someone took a punt on him, getting him to headline one of the mushrooming events that were beginning to define the Kampala entertainment scene. It was a madhouse, with a stunning turn out in terms of numbers.

Before long, Maddox was headlining multiple events in the city, from concerts to corporate events and, inevitably, comedy shows. The allegations then became about whether he would be sober at these performances, but those rumours soon changed. He was under new management and was tightly and professionally managed.

Maddox blossomed and became possibly the most expensive artiste to hire for an event in the nation’s capital. Now the rumours are about a possible album, one that will probably stop the city in its tracks. Now that will be the icing on the cake for an impressive resurrection story.

Jackie Chandiru was probably the one whom society had collectively thrown in the towel. After girl group Blu*3 members went solo, it was suddenly obvious to us why the group was so vibrant. The girls were individually talented, almost frightfully so.

Lilian Mbabazi, with her throaty, soulful vocals; Cindy, with a powerful, soulful take on dancehall and Jackie, who was simultaneously quirky and daring with regards to whatever she decided to turn her vocal sass to.

Jackie was like a train — unrelenting. It also helped that she took the box and ripped it to shreds, with a unique, musical style that had her music standing out for miles.

Then suddenly, there was silence and the allegations of substance abuse. Hers were somewhat even more worrying because it was implied that her life was at risk. The media did not stay away on this one, following up on these allegations doggedly. It helped that Jackie appears to be an intensely private person, so nothing really came to the fore. But those allegations lasted for at least a decade.

There was always going to be only one way anyone would believe Jackie was back and she pulled it off when she showed up at a Blu*3 reunion concert last year. That was something of a coup.

Everything about the concert was something of a miracle — Blue*3, actually getting back together, and Jackie showing up on stage. We genuinely did not think we would see or hear you sing again, Ms. Chandiru. Now that was a resurrection and then some.
Apart from singing, she has also taken up motivational speaking of the confessional type and is invited by Rotary clubs and students’ clubs to talk about substance abuse and recovery.

Henry Tigan seemed to have completely dropped off the face of the earth, even though he was probably the oddest and trendiest (and somewhat quirky) artiste right about 2012.

Melodramatic comebacks

Few of the folks that follow these two artistes were as melodramatic in terms of their comebacks/ resurrections.

Henry Tigan seemed to have completely dropped off the face of the earth, even though he was probably the oddest and trendiest (and somewhat quirky) artiste right about 2012.

It turns out he simply decided to fade away from the limelight and concentrate on a live music performance career. At the height of his fame, he was a performing and recording artiste and a songwriter of some renown. With his friend Dr Hilderman, they attacked their promoter, Suudiman, in a song. Then everything went dark.

His resurrection was not melodramatic; he slowly bubbled back to life with a band that also featured Chagga, another resurrection story. You might remember Chagga; he was a rabble-rouser that belonged to the Leone Island crew and often stirred things up with Goodlyfe.

His musical credits included ad-libbing on some Chameleone songs. Then he went dark. Well, he seems to have teamed up with the soft-spoken Tigan and you are likely to find him at a nightspot near you as part of a live music band.

Honourable mentions

The rest of the list probably qualifies as honourable mentions.

Jamal blew up after that hit single that established him firmly on the scene, a song called Abakyaala Bazira. Jamal had been hanging around on the fringes of the music industry as a sort of karaoke night singer and when he did get into the studio, it was with a nasal tone that drove me nuts.

When he eventually decided to drop the nasal tone, the result was Abakyaala Bazira. Women took the single on as an anthem of sorts.

Oddly enough, the song did not prove to be the launch pad to superstardom that we thought it would. Instead, his star continued to dim. Now, as one editor harshly put it:

“His relevance has been relegated to Women’s Day celebrations and events. He also shows up at ‘oldie’ themed events.” Ouch. One could say he resurrects every year on Women’s Day.

Jenkins Mukasa seems to be going through a resurrection of sorts himself; one could say it is at the expense of another artiste. Jenkins was once juggling careers as a corporate mainstay and as an artiste of sorts.

While he never hit the big time with his music, he was a force to be reckoned with because of his corporate connections and reputation as someone who got things done within the entertainment industry.

He is suddenly back in the limelight because of a social media war he is having with Spice Diana over her relevance as a musician.

It is intriguing that he is at war with an artiste who went through a resurrection of sorts in her own career — Spice Diana was a lowly light-skinned singer in 2012, goofing over academic performance and making TV appearances as the slum girl next door.

Then she went through a significant rebrand and investment that seemed to turn her career around in 2017 as social media gained more relevance in the country.